Larry Johnson is convinced he has CTE, fears he 'could be Aaron Hernandez'

CBS Sports | Dec 14

Larry Johnson was the Chiefs' 2003 first-round pick. He had back-to-back 1,700-yard rushing seasons in 2005 and '06 -- those were the only times he cracked 1,000 yards -- but Kansas City released him midway through the 2009 campaign. By 2011, after stints in Cincinnati, Washington and Miami, Johnson was out of the league.

More than six years removed from his last NFL snap, the 38-year-old is apparently convinced that he has chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), the chronic brain disease caused by repeated blows to the head. CTE can only be diagnosed after death but Johnson cites mood swings, memory lapses, headaches and violent and self-destructive impulses -- all symptoms of CTE -- as reasons why he's concerned.

Johnson calls them "blank spots," and he has taken to creating a "time capsule" of his football career for his seven-year-old daughter in case he ever gets to the point where he is no longer capable of remembering the specifics of his life.